Doctors in St. Louis helped this young man who was born with limb differences and an unmatched competitive spirit.
ST. LOUIS — Every time you come to Busch Stadium, you could be seeing a player for the ages.
But on this day, the most impressive player might only be age 10.
“He’s a 10 out of 10,” said his baseball coach Jason Mickey. “The kid is an amazing athlete.”
Elijah Schultz is here today seeking autographs but his signature is determination. Eli was born in Ghana, Africa, and adopted by the Schultz family when he was 13 months old. He had special needs.
“He had amnionic banding,” explained his dad Tobin Schultz. “When he was born, he had a natural amputation below his left knee. And then he also had webbed fingers, missing fingers and a webbed foot on the right side.”
It’s been a long road of surgeries and rehabilitation, as the family made the 300-mile trip from their home in Joplin, Missouri to St. Louis.
“Our goal is to provide as much function and appearance but as much function as we can,” said Dr. Charles Goldfarb of Washington University’s St. Louis Children’s Hospital.
Source: ‘Absolutely an inspiration’: 10-year-old boy with limb difference leads baseball team stats